A country for young men
Gabriel Attal is France’s latest and youngest prime minister.
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Read the New Statesman’s latest comment, long-read features and analysis on France.
Emmanuel Macron does not understand France
A leading French thinker on the forces of a new movement that is neither left nor right.
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Americans don’t belong in Europe
Henry James showed how the New World is incapable of understanding the Old World.
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The self-delusions of Nicolas Sarkozy
The former president still casts himself as the prophet of French conservatism. Historians will remember him as an enabler of…
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Can Marine Le Pen win without the elites?
The French far-right politician has cast herself as the candidate of the people. That might be a mistake.
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The Islamist roots of French disorder
The country’s riots cannot be explained away by socio-economic woes alone.
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Pedro Sánchez’s election battle will pre-empt Europe’s future
As Spain heads to the polls, the country’s fractured politics offer a glimpse of what’s to come.
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The striking works of the Prix Pictet shortlist
From Siân Davey to Gauri Gill, the photographers competing for the prestigious award are deeply impressive.
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France’s forces of law and disorder
French police have declared themselves “at war” with rioters. How did the state’s protectors become a threat to its future?
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The rotten heart of the French republic
The crisis in France only benefits the hard right, who will exploit it to reshape French politics.
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Annie Ernaux’s acts of revenge
The Nobel laureate on abortion, the “shame” of her upbringing and forging a new working-class literature.
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Letter from Marseille: the lawless metropolis
Riven by violence and drugs, France’s second city is descending into anarchy.
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How Michel Houellebecq diminished himself
Full of explicit depictions of bizarre, humiliating events, the French novelist’s new memoir reads like the ramblings of a buffoon.
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The French right can’t quit Russia
A former prime minister’s parliamentary testimony highlights persistent pro-Moscow sympathies among France’s elite.
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Is Emmanuel Macron running out of options?
The French president is at risk of being remembered not as an ambitious reformer but as the leader who handed…
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China’s wolf-warrior diplomacy is pushing it closer to Russia
The Chinese ambassador to France said that ex-Soviet states don’t have an “effective status under international law”.
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Emmanuel Macron’s appeasement tour is off to a rough start
As he visits the regions, can the French leader move on from the pension reform protests and relaunch his presidency?
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Emmanuel Macron’s vision for Europe still doesn’t match reality
As long as the defence of the continent depends on American goodwill, Europe cannot credibly distance itself from the US…
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The Night of the 12th: a grim look at an unsolved murder
The director Dominik Moll is known for his tightly-plotted French thrillers. Now, he takes on an unsolved true crime.
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Macron’s interior minister signals his authoritarian shift
As the French president endures weekly protests, Gérald Darmanin has emerged as his most prominent law and order hard-liner.
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